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The SportsMan Weekly NFL Picks (Week 2)

12-4. That was the SportsMans record last week. Not a bad first week. With that record I would have won six of the eight divisions last year. While it was respectable by my standards, it wasn’t perfect. Let’s see if I can do a little better this time around. Here’s the week 2 edition of picks…

New England over New York Jets (Thursday night)
The Patriots are seriously banged up on offense. That being said they’re still playing the Jets. New York did win last week thanks to a stupid penalty on behalf of Tampa Bay. Bellichick gets the best of Ryan and the Pats win.

Atlanta over St. Louis
The Rams are an improved team. They still aren’t in the Falcons class though. Atlanta nearly pulled out a win over the Saints and only a late Matt Ryan interception kept Atlanta winless. Even with a hobbled Roddy White the Falcons offense is too well balanced for Jeff Fishers squad. Falcons by two scores.

Carolina over Buffalo
The Bills nearly pulled off a great upset over the Patriots last week. The Panthers struggled against the Seahawks. Different week now. Cam Newton will be on a quest to show people he is still a deadly duel-threat quarterback. He lights up the Bills. Buffalo regrets giving Fred Jackson too many of C.J. Spillers carries.

Chicago over Minnesota
Minnesota has the best back in football. Unfortunately they also have a turnover prone quarterback too. Christian Ponder just isn’t going to be the guy in Minnesota. The Bears defense eats him for lunch and the turnovers are too much to overcome for the Vikings. Cutler and Marshall play pitch-and-catch to the tune of 110 yards and a score.

Green Bay over Washington
RGIII looked uncomfortably planting off that injured knee in week one. The Packers defense is going to hit him hard and often. The redskins couldn’t stop the Eagles offense so imagine what Aaron Rodgers will do to them. He “discount double checks” for 300+ total yards and three scores.

Indianapolis over Miami
If Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace was frustrated after a win imagine the temper tantrum he’s going to throw after a loss. I was way off on my prediction of “115 yards on seven catches and a touchdown” last week for Wallace. Indianapolis uses a healthy dose of Reggie Wayne with a dash of Vick Ballard and Ahmad Bradshaw to win at home.

Dallas over Kansas City
The Cowboys improved defense had six turnovers last week. They won’t duplicate that but shouldn’t have ay problem keeping Alex Smith in check. Jamal Charles was a bit banged up after last week and will have trouble getting many yards against the Cowboys front line. Dallas picks up the road victory.

Baltimore over Cleveland
The Ravens looked like high school kids against Peyton Manning last week. Manning has a tendency to do that to teams. I was spot on about my evaluation of Brandon Weeden last week (“Brandon Weeden is ready for AARP and it isn’t long before he looses the starting job”). Ray Rice can’t be stopped and Trent Richardson can’t do it alone. Ravens at home with the win.

Houston over Tennessee
The Titans shocked the league last week with a win over Pittsburgh. The Texans ain’t the Steelers. Arian Foster and Andre Johnson have their way against a weak Titans defense. Matt Schaub has all day in the pocket and Tennessee returns to their rightful place at the bottom of the league. Chris Johnson lays a dud with only 65 rushing yards and no scores.

Philadelphia over San Diego
The Eagles showed off their new high-powered offense and it looked fantastic for a half. The question is how long can they sustain it and more importantly how long can Mike Vick take hits behind a suspect O-line. The good news for Philly is they get San Diego who can never seem to get out of their own way. The Chargers carry the loss last week over to Philadelphia and drop one on the road. Philip Rivers adds two picks to the disaster for San Diego.

Detroit over Arizona
I remember someone saying last week “Reggie Bush catches too many balls out of the backfield”. Oh wait, that was me!! Bush lit up the Vikings defense for four catches totaling 101 yards. The Cardinals still have no running game and while the matchup of Calvin Johnson against Tyrann Mathieu should be better than Liam Neeson against the wolves in “The Gray” the Cardinals still can’t stop Bush. Carson Palmer takes some licks against a rough Lions defense.

New Orleans over Tampa Bay
As I tweeted last sunday, “In case you wondered why the SportsMan picked the Buccaneers to win only 2 games this year, today was a prime example of why”. This game gets uglier than Eric Stoltz in “Mask” (1985). It’s over by the half as Drew Bress puts up 350 passing yards and four scores. The Buccaneers are credited in the third quarter with the first NFL forfeit since the Rochester Jeffersons against the Washington Pros/Senators back on December 5, 1921.

Jacksonville over Oakland
In the least NFL game in the history of mankind the Jaguars win by default over Oakland. At least Jacksonville fans (if they even exist) don’t have to watch Blaine Gabbert this week. They get Chad Henne instead. Big Whoop!!
Raiders quarterback Terrell Pryor is exciting. Too bad no one else on the black and silver is. It’s only a matter of time until Darren McFadden gets hurt again and the Raiders start planning for the draft. If you have paint drying in your house this weekend you may be better off watching that than his game.

Denver over New York Giants
It hurts so bad to think of my G-men being 0-2 on the season. But is there anyway somebody can pick against Peyton after last week. The Giants won’t turn the ball over nearly as much as last week and the Broncos will not put up 49 points as they did against the Ravens last week. Manning Bowl will be a close contest but in the end New York struggles against new Peyton target Julius Thomas and drops a heartbreaker at home.

Seattle over San Francisco
Colin Kaepernick looked unstoppable last week at home. This game isn’t at home. It’s in the unfriendly confines of Seattle. The Seahawks use the 12th man to squeak out a close one over rival San Fran. Russell Wilson wins the battle of young QBs and Doug Baldwin slips past the 49ers defense late in the game for the deciding score.

Cincinnati over Pittsburgh (Monday Night)
The Steelers looked worse than Ben Affleck in “Gigli” last week against the Titans. Tennessee allowed the most points in the NFL last year but the Pitt offense could only muster a garbage time touchdown. It doesn’t get easier this week against an underrated Bengals squad. Cincinnati comes up big at home on national tv. Expect A.J. Green to have another monster game to the likes of 130 yards and two scores.

Joe Namath guarantee of the week-> Last week I barely held onto my guarantee pick as New England rallied late against Buffalo. However, a win is a win and I’m 1-0 with my guarantees. this week I’m taking New Orleans over Tampa Bay.